Luskwood
Luskwood consists of approximately 99% of Perry, 70% of Lusk, most of Clara, and a bit of Tehama. Formed in September 2003, it is run by Arito Cotton, Eltee Statosky, Liam Roark, and Michi Lumin. It is considered the largest, if not the only PG "furry-themed area", currently over 130,000 square meters in size. Luskwood also runs Luskwood Creatures, the builders of some of the first anthropomorphic avatars in Second Life (beginning in SL 1.0). Over 40,000 Luskwood avatars have been sold, and more types continue to be added. Luskwood Creatures has raised charity money for the SL charity group VERTU, and the RL charity groups Heifer International and the American Red Cross by auctioning off limited-edition avatars and having fundraising Of note is the fact that Luskwood stresses that non-furry residents are welcome in Luskwood at all times, and often it hosts non-furry and general access events on their land. Luskwood is first and foremost a "park and nature preserve"; its founders being furry is mainly coincidental and its status as a furry centerpiece is mainly honorary, as the furry theme was never part of its original charter. However, most furries are known for their solitary nature and waryness of outsiders, (another myth Luskwood attempts to dispel) and because of this, it is often assumed that non-furries are not welcome. However, its founders are avid scripters, builders, and artists, and try to emphasize a welcoming attitude towards anyone whatsoever. Due to Luskwood's location near the Ahern new resident welcome area, it is often one of the first mainland stops for new residents beyond the welcome area. Avatar building tips are freely given, as well as advice to newcomers on the SL experience, and Eltee Statosky's experience with the SL particle system is well-known. Owing to this, another main theme in Luskwood's charter is to provide a "natural" area, free of commercial focus and overbuilding. Its "back forty" in Perry often serves as an impromptu unofficial sandbox and event area, much like an actual park would. Another feature of Luskwood is its Jogauni quests. When one buys one of their Jogauni avatars, one has the option of taking part in a HUD guided quest. One follows a hint, which guides them somewhere on the Luskwood grounds, until they find the location of the next clue. This goes on and on until they find a staff of the element of their avatar, which is either Shadow, Light, Metal, Wood, Fire, Water, Air or Earth. To this end, Luskwood also is a partner in the Lusk Estates Charter, a residential and non-commercial area for new or non-landowning residents adjacent to Luskwood itself. Lusk Estates was originally Linden-controlled but since the "keys" have been handed over to a new group, the "Lusk Estates Land Trust" to oversee the area, consisting of Chage McCoy, Eltee Statosky, Michi Lumin, Chromal Brodsky and Kex Godel. History Throughout 2003, Luskwood was approximately 12 km2, and began by the unification of Liam Roark's AT&T LongLines tower, Michi Lumin's land, and Eltee Statosky's treehouse. During 2003, Luskwood shared Lusk and Perry with the JazzyJadeWolf estate, Cienna Rand's glass house, and Devlin Gallant's greek-styled mansion. In April of 2004, Luskwood was shut down momentarily due to coordinated efforts by the "W-Hat" group, who claim affiliation to the Something Awful website, long known for its unwavering anti-furry position. W-Hat and Something Awful's (SA) position has been, historically, that all furries are basically sexual deviants who need to be eradicated from the Internet. Though Luskwood is strictly PG at all times, and now there are other furry areas in SL that cater to the (arguably separate) 'adult' furry community, at the time of the event, Luskwood was the only concentrated furry-themed area in Second Life and, if anything, was mistaken as operating under this stereotype. During this event, all of Luskwood's land features were shifted in one direction by approximately 20 meters, due to several server crashes and the extreme amount of traffic in and out of the simulator. This event is what spawned the ongoing tension between the furry groups and W-Hat in Second Life; however, as SL has matured, W-Hat/SA members have been seen at Luskwood DJ events, and some have even become semi-regulars in the area. Additionally, W-Hat does now contain some furry members, and W-Hat's "furry griefing" is largely becoming an anachronism as both groups mature and find their niches in Second Life. It is important to note that many of the W-Hat members who were party to the initial focused griefing on Luskwood are no longer members of W-Hat; many of the initial insurgents were simply part of a SA "goon rush" spawned by the leak of a 1000-use "free membership" coupon to the Something Awful forums. Luskwood tradition includes a New Year's party, usually hosted by Arito Cotton, where Luskwood Creatures avatars are given out. Luskwood's 2004/2005 party gave away approximately 25 avatars, and over L$50,000. It was hosted at "Club Giant Eltee Head", an impromptu wooden dance club constructed by Arito Cotton in under an hour, featuring a giant plywood rendition of the Luskwood founder's head. Though missed in 2005, Luskwood generally also hosts a yearly easter egg hunt coordinated by Liam Roark, which also features avatar and L$ giveaways. Landmarks & Lore Luskwood legends and lore include: Primhenge, a build consisting of little more than several plywood cubes which persisted from before SL 1.0 until as late as SL 1.3 with no interaction from its unknown owner. Luskwood mainly built around this object until one day it disappeared and the small plot of land it once occupied finally went for public sale. The Sword in the Stone, or "Excalibur" - a sword stuck in a rock that constantly emitted an annoying crackling sound for well over a year. Similar to Primhenge, this was pre-1.0 detritus which was never claimed by its owner. It was built around, and even covered, until it too one day disappeared. A spinning tie-dyed colored disc sitting on 16m2 of land which also persisted for about as long as the two items above. However, many of these similar discs were placed all over the mainland, and served as some sort of spiritual map or religious device for one single player. The resident owner would not even take L$100,000 to remove them, and JazzyJade Wolf attempted to hide it by covering it with a tree for the good majority of their tenancy in Lusk. Trogdor - a model of the one-armed dragonman existed in Lusk from Beta until SL 1.2, when the land to support it was not claimed by its owner. Cienna Rand's Ode to Prim Banking - constructed at the end of SL 1.1, a 3D grid of prims, lit tastefully by one internal prim. Cienna's homage to the passing of the 1.1 world, into the SL 1.2 era. First feature-length-film screening - In SL 1.6 preview, Baba Yamamoto showed the entirety of "Godzilla 2000" in Luskwood, and the Lindens 'set the sun' for the event. Attended by Philip Linden, this was the first full-length movie shown in Second Life. Club Giant Eltee Head - Constructed by Arito Cotton in under an hour, this wood-textured dance club (complete with wooden speakers and wooden disco balls) served as Luskwood's event center for the late part of 2004. Since retired, it is being brought back as Pub Giant Eltee Head, a British tudor-style pub featuring the head of the same Luskwood founder, currently under construction at JazzyJade Wolf's former site. Arito Cotton's latest endeavours can be seen on the island of Taco. Category:Historical Locations